We are a grass roots organization located in both Israel and the United States. Our intention is to be pro-active on behalf of Israel. This means we will identify the topics that need examination, analysis and promotion. Our intention is to write accurately what is going on here in Israel rather than react to the anti-Israel media pieces that comprise most of today's media outlets.

Monday, June 09, 2014

Israel no longer a cause that unifies US Jews

NEW YORK (AP) — Once a unifying cause for generations of American Jews, Israel is now bitterly dividing Jewish communities.

Jewish
organizations are withdrawing invitations to Jewish speakers or
performers considered too critical of Israel, in what opponents have
denounced as an ideological litmus test meant to squelch debate. Some
Jewish activists have formed watchdog groups, such as Citizens Opposed
to Propaganda Masquerading as Art, or COPMA, and JCC Watch, to monitor
programming for perceived anti-Israel bias. They argue Jewish groups
that take donations for strengthening the community shouldn't be giving a
platform to Israel's critics.

American
campuses have become ideological battle zones over Israeli policy in
the Palestinian territories, with national Jewish groups sometimes
caught up on opposing sides of the internal debate among Jewish
students. The "Open Hillel" movement of Jewish students is challenging
speaker guidelines developed by Hillel, the major Jewish campus group,
which bars speakers who "delegitimize" or "demonize" Israel.

Open Hillel
is planning its first national conference in October.

And
in a vote testing the parameters of Jewish debate over Israel, the
Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, a national
coalition that for decades has represented the American Jewish
community, denied membership in April to J Street, the 6-year-old lobby
group that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace and has
sometimes criticized the Israeli government. Opponents of J Street have
been showing a documentary called "The J Street Challenge," in
synagogues and at Jewish gatherings around the country, characterizing
the group as a threat from within.

"I
believe this has reached a level of absurdity now," said Rabbi Sharon
Brous, founder of the IKAR-LA Jewish community in California, which is
considered a national model for reinvigorating religious life. "Even
where people are acting from a place of love and deep commitment that
Israel remains a vital and vibrant state, they are considered outside
the realm. It's seen as incredibly threatening and not aligned with the
script the American Jewish community expects."

In
2012, when Israel carried out an offensive in Gaza after an upsurge in
rocket fire, Brous wrote an email to IKAR members that was published in
The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. She supported Israel's right
to defend itself, while also urging recognition of Palestinian
suffering.

The result? She
was overwhelmed with hate mail, and inspired competing op-eds and
letters in the Journal from Jewish clergy and others until a prominent
rabbi called for an end to the recriminations and name-calling.

American
Jews have always vigorously debated Israeli policy, but mostly within
the community and with an understanding that differences would be set
aside if the Jewish state faced an existential threat. But the
discussion within the U.S. has become more reflective of the very broad
debate within Israel.

FILE - In this Sunday, June 1, 2014 file photo, protesters against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanct …

"It's a very old issue
that many countries face and now Israel faces: to what extent should
domestic debate carry over when you're abroad?" said Jonathan Sarna, a
Brandeis University scholar of American Jewish history. "The critics of J
Street and the like say, 'Of course, it's fine in Israel because the
minute they call up the reserves, all politics disappear. Moreover, they
have to live with the results of their decision.' Their argument is
that there should be a great difference between what you can do and say
in Israel and what you can do or say in America. There are all sorts of
enemies who make use of the words in America differently than they do in
Israel."

Internal American
Jewish conflict has worsened as many Israel advocates have come to feel
under siege in the U.S. The international boycott movement against
Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians has gained some momentum
in the U.S., and critics increasingly draw analogies between Israeli
policies and South African apartheid.

The
clashes among American Jews are partly colored by the sharp tone of
overall left-right debate within the U.S. Earlier this year, the
Brandeis chapter of J Street and one of its most vocal antagonists on
campus, Daniel Mael, accused each other of harassment and made
complaints to campus police. Mael, a 21-year-old Orthodox Jew, wrote a
series of posts for the conservative site truthrevolt.org accusing J
Street of bringing "Israel bashers" on campus.

J
Street has said its opponents often distort the group's statements. The
liberal lobby created a "Myths & Facts" page on its website
challenging the claims.

Many
leaders of the older, more-established organizations say the divisions
are not as broad or deep as some claim. Defenders of the presidents'
conference argue their 50-member association includes liberal
organizations with similar views to J Street, and they blame the lobby
group for whipping up a backlash to the vote.

The presidents'
conference was formed in the 1950s in response to what was considered a
failure of U.S. Jewish leaders during World War II to speak to American
policy makers with one voice. Members were expected to keep internal
discussion and voting private.
Among the 17 conference members who
voted for J Street in April were the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish
Council for Public Affairs, and the Conservative and Reform Jewish
movements. Twenty-two conference members voted no and three others
abstained. The remaining member groups did not send a representative to
vote.

FILE - In this Sunday, June 1, 2014 file photo, a boy carries a peace dove sign with others from a J …

Farley Weiss, president of
the National Council of Young Israel, an association for Orthodox
synagogues, dismissed J Street's members as students with a skewed
understanding of Mideast history because of the "one-sided, left view"
on U.S. college campuses. Weiss was among the few members of the
Conference of Presidents who campaigned publicly to block J Street's
admission to the group.

"Their views are not part of what I consider the mainstream of the Jewish community," Weiss said.
"I
wouldn't characterize them as enemies of Israel," Weiss said. "I would
characterize it that their self-avowed statement that they are
pro-Israel is not accurate."

The
split among U.S. Jews has its roots in the Jewish settlement building
in the occupied territories after the 1967 Six Day War, which sparked
debate in the U.S. and in Israel over whether the settlements helped or
hurt Israeli security.

At the same time, American Judaism was
splintering. The strictly traditional Orthodox population grew, but so
did the number of Jews who left organized religious life. Jews were
marrying outside the faith at a high rate, and their families were
generally less involved in the Jewish community and less tied to Israel.
"We
now have more people who care deeply about Israel and more people who
care very little about Israel," said Steven M. Cohen, a professor at
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute on Religion who specializes in
research on the American Jewish community.
Meanwhile, liberal
Reform Judaism, which has worked for years to underscore its deep
commitment to the Jewish state, grew to become the largest movement in
American Judaism. The result: a pro-Israel American Jewish community
largely split between conservatives and liberals, both emotionally
attached to Israel but with conflicting outlooks on many Israeli
policies.
At Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel, a Reform Jewish
synagogue in South Orange, New Jersey, Rabbi Daniel Cohen struggles to
hold the ever-shrinking common ground among his congregants over Israel.
Before Cohen delivers a sermon on the subject, he re-reads what he
wrote and asks himself, "How are they going to hear it?"
From the
pulpit, he tries to weave together the views of doves and hawks among
the 850 families in his congregation, comparing Israel to a flawed
friend who nonetheless should be defended against slander. Still, he
hears complaints — about his personal involvement with the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee, the long-established lobbying group,
and his simultaneous support for congregants active in J Street.
"I'm
very, very careful to focus on the importance of Israel and the
American Jewish community and being involved in activism. I'm not
proscriptive about how people should get involved," said Cohen, the
temple's senior rabbi for 16 years.
A Pew Research Center survey
conducted last year found more than two-thirds of American Jews feel
somewhat or very attached to Israel, but only 38 percent believe the
Israeli government is sincerely pursuing peace with the Palestinians and
44 percent said settlement construction hurts Israeli national
security. (In the same poll, just 12 percent of U.S. Jews said
Palestinian leaders were making a sincere effort to resolve the
conflict.)

Many Jewish
leaders worry the infighting could not only undermine U.S. support for
Israel, but also drive away the younger American Jews who are pressing
for a broader definition of what it means to be pro-Israel.

"The
attacks are stronger and more vicious sometimes ...," said Cohen. "If
you're not hearing other perspectives, I don't know how you can have an
honest, open debate."

Caroline Glick & Mark Levin: The Israeli Solution -- A One-State Pla

Why Israel Opposes International Forces in the Jordan Valley

U.S. scholars' group votes in favor of academic boycott of Israel

Yet another indication of the absolute corruption of American academia today. "US scholars' group votes in favor of academic boycott of Israel," from the Jerusalem Post, December 16: NEW YORK – The 5,000-member American Studies Association (ASA), which describes itself as “the nation’s oldest and largest association devoted to...http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/12/us-scholars-group-votes-in-favor-of-academic-boycott-of-israel.html

Israel Living Prophecy

A senior New Israel Fund officer told a U.S. official in 2010 that the disappearance of the Jewish state would not be a tragedy, according to a document that was leaked by Wikileaks...She commented that she believed that in 100 years Israel would be majority Arab and that the disappearance of a Jewish state would not be the tragedy that Israelis fear since it would become more democratic.

Mideast expert Michael Widlanski: Fatah is a joke

US-Israeli talks focus on Ahmadinejad's possible ouster

How to exploit the deep cracks forming in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration for removing the Iranian president was a top item on the agenda of the high-level talks between Barack Obama's advisers and Israeli officials at Mossad headquarters in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, Wednesday, July 29.

DEBKAfile's Iranian sources report that Ahmadinejad's cabinet is falling apart; of his original lineup of 21 ministers, only nine remain at their posts.

The Identity Of The Land

Why the Palestinians need to recognize the Jewish State

We do NOT support a 2-state solution

A January 2009 poll found that Americans oppose creating a Palestinian state by 45-31 percent. A February 2009 Maagar Mohot Survey Institute poll has also shown that Israelis oppose creating a Palestinian state by 51-32 percent.

Many other polls tell a similar story.

These figures suggest that Americans and Israelis have understood that creating a Palestinian state under current conditions will not bring peace but merely another terror state.

Netanya,Israel

Jerusalem At Night

Why reconstruct Gaza without making demands

- that Shalit be release without convicted terrorists being released by Israel in exchange,

- that the US be put in charge of the southern border to ensure that Hamas isn’t rearmed?

- that their three preconditions be accepted by Hamas, i.e. agree to all former agreements,recognize Israel and renounce terror

- that Hamas amend their Charter

- That Hamas disconnect from Iran

The answer is that they don’t want to.

Children of Hamas

Picture of Hamas children the media does not show you

IDF: Civilian Deaths in Gaza Less than 25% of Total

A maximum of 25% of the Palestinians killed in Gaza since the beginning of the Israeli operation are innocent civilians, the head of the IDF's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), Col. Moshe Levi, said Wednesday. According to Palestinian medical officials, Israel has killed some 1,000 Palestinians and more than half of them are civilians. Levi said the CLA had compiled a list with the names of 900 Palestinians killed during the fighting. He said that 150 names were of women, children and elderly, and that the maximum number of civilians killed so far was 250. Levi also dismissed claims that 43 Palestinians were killed in an IDF attack on a Hamas terror cell that was firing mortars at Israeli forces from within an UNRWA school in Jabalya. Levi said 21 Palestinians were killed in the attack, including a number of Hamas operatives. (Jerusalem Post)

Hamas teaching the children of Gaza

An Iranian reformist daily newspaper has criticized Hamas "for risking lives of civilians, amongst them children, by hiding its forces in nurseries and hospitals." This is reported in today's Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam. The Palestinian daily adds that in response the Iranian government has closed the newspaper.

"The Iranian news agency "Irna" reported yesterday, that the Iranian Culture Ministry has closed the reformist daily newspaper "Karjo Zaran", because it published a report that included criticism of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). On December 30 the paper published a statement of a reformist student organization, that has criticized Hamas for risking lives of civilians, amongst them children, by hiding its forces in nurseries and hospitals. The statement was published whilst the Iranian government expresses a unified stands against Israel, and Tehran is overwhelmed by demonstrations against Israel."

[Al-Ayyam, Jan. 1, 2009] Thanks PMW

Iran-backed Hamas Rocket, Mortar Attacks and Nuclear Developments

9,400+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2003. [1]3,200+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in 2008 alone. [2]6,500+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. [3]543+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israeli territory during the ceasefire from June 19 to Dec. 19, 2008. [4]28 deaths caused by rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israel since 2001. The dead include Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire ended, Iran-backed Palestinian groups in Gaza fired rockets and mortars that killed an Israeli-Arab construction worker and a mother of four who was seeking shelter in a bus station as a rocket warning siren sounded. [5]1,000+ people in Israel injured from rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2001, including Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire, 44 Israelis have been injured and 200 have been treated for shock. [6]Thanks Israel Project

It began with this...

The British Foreign Office, November 2nd, 1917Dear Lord Rothschild,I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate theachievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities inPalestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.2

Signed,Arthur James Balfour[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]

Favorite Books

While Europe Slept

About Me

Semi-retired Professor, now also permanent resident of Israel;divides time between both countries-serves on several Boards of Directors for Israel advocacy groups;Chana, resident of Jerusalem, JCPA member

Syria is an Occupier-Are You Listening World?

As of this minute, Syria occupies at least 177 square miles of Lebanese soil. That you are now reading about it for the first time is as much a scandal as the occupation itself.

The news comes by way of a fact-finding survey of the Lebanese-Syrian border just produced by the International Lebanese Committee for UN Security Council Resolution 1559, an American NGO that has consultative status with the UN. In meticulous detail - supplemented by photographs and satellite images - the authors describe precisely where and how Lebanon has been infiltrated.

Though the land grabs are small affairs individually, they collectively add up to an area amounting to about 4% of Lebanese soil - in U.S. terms, the proportional equivalent of Arizona. Of particular note is that the area of Syrian conquest dwarves that of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms which amount to an area of about 12 square miles.

It would be nice to see the Arab world protest this case of illegal occupation, given its passions about the subject.

Information worth Possessing

"Israel gave the Palestinians an autonomy in 42% of the West Bank and Gaza after the Oslo accords in the early 90's. Over 92% of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza were then under the administration of the Palestinian Authority and its Chairman Yasser Arafat.

"Israel is surrounded by 10 hostile Arab countries who do not even recognize its right to exist ( Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Algeria, Lybia, Morocco, Tunisia, Aden) and Iran"